Chapter 22

The meeting room was a typical new recruit camp style, everything was kept simple. Even the walls were exposed green stone, with metal supports clearly visible.

The only decoration was a hand-drawn map of the empire's territory that covered an entire wall, a style at least a thousand years old, when Xuguxing was still located in the topmost planetary belt. Seven hundred years ago, it went off course and fell, dragging the inhabitants of the two upper continents into hell, while the shattered remains floating in the void became the richest source of rare minerals for the human race.

The meeting room's doors and windows were wide open, but it didn't do much good. The room was filled with smoke, and most of the dozen or so military officers seated around the long conference table were puffing away, occasionally arguing with each other. Most of them were young, but their ranks were very high, with the lowest being a colonel, and some even holding the rank of major general.

At the head of the table sat a brigadier general! This young brigadier general, with his handsome and delicate features, looked to be not even thirty years old.

On the conference table, there were over a hundred candidate files, each marked differently, being passed around by the officers. Sometimes, two people would argue heatedly over a single file.

These officers were representatives of various special forces units, responsible for this recruitment. The candidate files were selected according to established standards. Candidates whose files did not appear here had already lost their eligibility to join the special forces.

The seemingly chaotic meeting room actually had a subtle order. All files were first reviewed by those seated at the ends of the long table before being passed to the others.

At one end sat the young brigadier general, and at the other, a robust, angular-faced officer who looked to be around thirty-five or thirty-six.

At each end of the table, a file was placed, each already stamped with a special mark. One was a headless angel with broken wings, and the other was a vivid red scorpion.

The young brigadier general held another file in his hand, which was Nian's file. After a brief look, he casually threw it on the table and said disdainfully, "He's almost seventeen, and he still has to struggle to withstand twenty force tides. We, the Broken Winged Angels, have no interest in such barely qualified candidates!"

Upon hearing this, the other officers' eyes immediately lit up, and over a dozen pairs of eyes focused on Nian's file. Twenty force tides! The Broken Winged Angels didn't want him, but he could be a trump card for them.

The file had just landed on the table when several large hands eagerly reached out. It seemed they were about to fight over Nian's placement.

However, at that moment, a not particularly noticeable but exceptionally deep force suddenly enveloped Nian's file. The middle-aged officer at the other end of the table reached out and grabbed the file, which then slid across the table to him.

With a thud, the middle-aged officer's large hand pressed down on Nian's file: "We, the Red Scorpions, want this one!"

A sigh of disappointment spread through the meeting room.

The young brigadier general sneered, "I never thought that the famous Red Scorpions would now even take such trash! No wonder they've only been third in the last three military competitions."

The middle-aged officer didn't get angry but said calmly, "We, the Red Scorpions, want warriors who can kill enemies for the empire, not just data-driven experts."

The brigadier general immediately stood up, furious, and said, "What do you mean by that!"

The middle-aged officer replied calmly, "What I mean is already clear on the empire's military merit list."

On the empire's military merit list, the Red Scorpion Corps firmly held the second position, having been there for the last three competitions. Of course, behind the shining military achievements lay the grim white bones of the Red Scorpion warriors.

The brigadier general was extremely angry, his face pale, and then he snorted, grabbed the file on the table that had already been stamped, and waved it, saying, "Do you see, Wei Qiyang! Born into a prestigious family, with a long tradition and secret combat techniques, this is the true future strongman! In what way is he not better than the trash in your hand!"

The middle-aged officer chuckled, "I heard he was defeated by trash in the fighting arena, didn't I?"

The brigadier general snorted, "That's just because Wei Qiyang lacks combat experience. And all the potential of your trash has already been tapped in the Huangquan Training Camp. What room for improvement does he have in the future? Hmph, just a little mongrel picked up from the trash. Your Red Scorpions don't need to go to such lengths to cozy up to Lin Xitang!"

The middle-aged officer's face turned serious, and he said coldly, "You'd better show some respect to General Lin!"

"We're not afraid of him!" The brigadier general was unyielding, then tapped the conference table and said, "Why don't we have them fight a year from now? Let's see if that little trash can beat the one we, the Broken Winged Angels, have chosen!"

The middle-aged officer agreed without hesitation, "Fine! What's the bet?"

The brigadier general leaned forward, showing a false and exaggerated smile, and said, "A level six force gun! How about that?"

Upon hearing about the level six force gun, all the officers drew a sharp breath! A level six force gun was a weapon that only deputy commanders of general special forces units were qualified to carry!

The middle-aged officer took a deep breath, nodded slowly, and said, "Fine, I'm in!"

"I'm waiting for your gun!" The brigadier general laughed loudly and strode out of the meeting room, his voice still echoing outside, "This batch of candidates, all trash!"

When Nian woke up from his sleep, it was already noon the next day.

A beautiful but stern-faced female military doctor walked into the recovery room, threw his clothes at him, and bombarded Nian with a waterfall of words.

"Put on your clothes quickly, and disappear from here in three minutes! There are still many people waiting outside! Why aren't you putting on your pants? How long do you plan to wave that thing in front of me? Do you think it's big enough? If it doesn't disappear from my sight in thirty seconds, I'll cut it off and soak it in preservative fluid to use as a decoration on my desk!!"

Although Nian had seen many storms in the Huangquan Training Camp, he was thoroughly defeated by this human monster. He dressed as fast as he could and fled.

When Nian escaped from the hospital, he suddenly had a strange thought: Why not ask that beautiful human monster for her contact information?

This thought startled Nian himself. He suspected that he might have been in the training camp for too long, and his sudden departure had made him somewhat mentally unstable.

When Nian walked out of the inner camp, he immediately saw Shi Yan waiting for him.

As soon as he saw Nian, the usually taciturn man grinned widely, slapped Nian on the shoulder, and said, "Good job, kid!"

Nian was completely puzzled.

Shi Yan slapped his head and said, "Look, I'm getting a bit confused! You've been accepted by the Red Scorpions!"

"Red Scorpions?" Nian was momentarily at a loss. He carefully recalled the names of the special forces units recruiting this time, and it seemed that none of the mid-to-lower level corps were called Red Scorpions, nor were any of the upper-level corps.

Nian's heart suddenly raced, and he stammered, "You mean that Red Scorpion?"

"Yes, that Red Scorpion, the one that has consistently ranked in the top five of the empire!"

Nian held his breath, and immense joy completely overwhelmed him! He never thought he would be able to join the Broken Winged Angels or the Red Scorpions, two of the top elite corps, given his mediocre performance in the force test. Twenty force tides were just the passing standard.

"Three days from now, you'll report to the Red Scorpion Corps' base. It's a bit tight, but you have one night to prepare. Come on, let's go out for a drink!"

Shi Yan was also unusually excited, dragging Nian out of the camp. They had only taken a few steps when Wei Potian suddenly appeared, blocking Nian's path.

Nian looked Wei Potian up and down, his expression somewhat strange, and suddenly asked, "Do you like being hit?"

Wei Potian was standing with his arms crossed, looking cool, but his face turned a vivid shade of color upon hearing this, and he felt like spitting blood. However, Nian's expression was incredibly serious, not like he was teasing or mocking him.

Although they had only interacted briefly, Wei Potian had a rough idea of Nian's personality. Clearly, Nian was genuinely suspicious and particularly blunt.

This was the most infuriating part!

"Lin Qianye! I've already been chosen by the Broken Winged Angels. I'm the only one from this test site to join them!" Wei Potian said proudly.

Nian smiled and said, "So what? Want to fight again? I think you just like getting beaten."

Wei Potian's face turned red and then pale, and he said angrily, "If you're a man, let's change the game! Come, come, come, real men are also heroes in drinking. Let's see who can drink more tonight, dare you?"

"What do you have to lose?" Nian was unconvinced.

Wei Potian raised his voice by an octave and shouted, "If I lose, I'll take off my belt immediately!!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the surroundings suddenly fell silent! The movements of the people passing by seemed to slow down, and everyone focused their strange gazes on Wei Potian.

A few men clearly became interested in the robust, masculine Wei Potian, and their eyes turned lecherous. A few fair-skinned young men even threw flirtatious glances at Wei Potian.

Nian was momentarily speechless, and thanks to Wei Potian, he also became the focus of attention.

Shi Yan's lips twitched. His facial expressions today might have changed more than in the entire previous year. His eyes fell on the emblem on Wei Potian's belt buckle, immediately recognizing it as the symbol of the Wei family of Far East, and he also noticed that Nian had a new necklace with an eagle head pendant.

Connecting this with the drinking bet Wei Potian had proposed, Shi Yan understood the situation to some extent.

The Wei family was an ancient and prestigious clan, with its roots in Far East, and it had intermarried with the Langya Wang family for generations, with its influence spreading across two provinces. The Wei family usually maintained a neutral relationship with Lin Xitang, neither close nor distant, with no particular friendship or enmity. For such a powerful family, even if they couldn't be friends, they shouldn't be enemies.

"Let's get out of here!" Shi Yan decisively dragged Nian away from the awkward scene.

As night fell, Shi Yan took Nian to a bar in the city. They had just sat down when Wei Potian suddenly appeared uninvited.

He sat down opposite Nian, slapped the table, and shouted, "Lin Qianye! Do you think I can't find you just because you're hiding here? There are still many of my family members in Xiangyang City."

"What do you plan to do?"

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